As per reports, on Thursday (26 March), the Government of Canada granted royal assent to Bill C-12 (Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act), introducing significant reforms to immigration and asylum processes nationwide.

• The law implements immediate structural changes across eligibility rules, asylum processing, domestic information sharing, and immigration document management, with certain provisions applied retroactively to claims made on or after 03 June 2025.
• Key changes include stricter eligibility criteria for asylum claims, such as disqualifying claims made more than one year after first entry (post-June 24, 2020) and claims made more than 14 days after irregular entry via the Canada–US land border.
• The legislation also modernizes asylum procedures by prioritizing complete applications, accelerating removals, and reducing inactive cases.
• Additionally, authorities now permit enhanced data sharing between federal and provincial agencies under strict safeguards, while granting the government expanded powers to suspend or modify immigration documents and application processing in the public interest (e.g., fraud, public health, or security concerns).